Ken McBride

Ken McBride has enjoyed a long and exciting career in professional golf. Having served clubs in Quebec, British Columbia and New Brunswick, he is now completing his twentieth year at Miramichi Golf & CC, his 38th as a golf professional, and looking forward to retirement at the end of this season.

Born in Halifax N.S., McBride and his family soon moved to Quebec where he grew up next door to the Beaconsfield Golf Club in Pointe Claire, just outside of Montreal. From a very young age Ken spent most of his time at the neighbourhood golf club cleaning clubs, sweeping floors and caddying. “We lived right beside the golf course. I was always going over there and Ernie Finley, the assistant professional, took a bit of a liking to me. I was just a little kid, only had one eye and a patch over the other, the result of an early childhood accident. He took a shine to me and gave me a job sweeping the pro shop floors, when I was seven. From that job I gradually progressed to cleaning clubs and caddying, once I was big enough.”

About this time Ken had his first chance to play the game. “ My first game of golf was about a year later and I played left-handed. The only clubs I owned – given to me by a club member who had no more use of them – were lefties. I played from that side for a couple of years until I heard someone remark that there was no future for left-handers, if they wanted to become golf pros. I soon switched sides. There were only about twenty junior members at Beaconsfield, in those days. Actually you got a better deal if you were a caddy, where playing times were limited, but free. You could tee off every Monday morning before nine o’clock, as not many members played early in those days. We would get out ahead of the crowd and have a great time. If you got good marks, from the members you caddied for, you also were allowed to play after six o’clock on Friday night. Sometimes members would take us to tournaments at other area clubs, to caddy for them. Caddying was a great way to learn about the game and a wonderful way to meet people.”

Bill Kerr, Sr. was the professional at Beaconsfield Golf Club when Ken arrived on the scene. Kerr would serve the club in this position for 28 years. “Bill Kerr, more than anyone, was our mentor and like a second father. He always took an interest in all the caddies and had lots of time for kids who wanted to learn. He would lend us clubs and give us clinics on Saturday afternoons. Sometimes he would take us out and play a few holes afterwards, but, usually on holes away from the clubhouse, so the members wouldn’t see us.”

Kerr proposed Ken, to club president Clarence Campbell, for the position as an assistant professional in 1956.
“Mr. Campbell asked me if I was interested in accepting the position and when I said yes, I was first placed on a three month probation. There were four assistant professionals that year, including John Davis. Being the youngest, I was number four.

I was soon taught about golf club sales and repairs– Spalding, Wilson and MacGregor were the big names at that time. We also learned how to wrap leather grips and even how to repair and refinish hickory shafts, as there were still a few in use. Assistants were required to attend education seminars, just like today, usually two or three day sessions in spring and fall. The rest of our apprenticeship we learned directly from our head pro.”

The year 1956 was very exciting one at Beaconsfield, as they played host to the Canadian Open for the second time; it was also held there in 1946. McBride continued to work at Beaconsfield until 1962, when he accepted the opportunity from Seagram’s to work for them at their golf property at Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. While there, Ken became involved in organizing the first junior golf academy in the province. Along with professionals Stan Leonard, Al Nelson and Lyle Crawford and other professionals, they began week long camps at Chilliwack Golf and Country Club. It was during his five-year stay in BC that he met and married his wife Ellen, who was from Harrison. The couple now have four grown-up daughters, Wendy, Michele, Melana, and Lynette.

Moving to the east coast in 1968, McBride’s next position was at CFB Gagetown Golf & Curling Club, where he took charge of the golf operation and management of the curling club. Agreeing to move to Sussex in the fall of 1972, to manage their curling club and golf course, he spent one summer as professional at Magnetic Hill. The following season he began a thirteen-year stay at Sussex Golf & CC. “They had just built nine holes and a four sheet curling rink out at Piccadilly and still had the old nine-hole golf course, along the highway in Roachville. We operated the old nine-hole course for about 3 years before it was closed and the club became entirely situated where it is today. We also provided management and golf shop services for Fundy National Park, Wellsford and Gagetown.” In the spring of 1985 Ken became Head Professional at Miramichi Golf & Country Club and has been there ever since. “When I arrived, there were 218 members; now our membership stands at 750. There were only 28 juniors, so I started visiting the schools to introduce students to golf. We showed them films, gave them clinics during their Physical Education classes and encouraged them to get involved in the sport. Soon our junior membership grew and today we have over 125 juniors. As the median age in most clubs is high, we all have to encourage more juniors to ensure the future of our golf clubs.”

Ken is a people person. The first time you meet him, you’ll believe that you’ve known him all your life. “I have always enjoyed working with people and I try to treat everyone on the same level. In our business you have to be able to give everyone good service and treat them as equals. As for working in this industry for so long, I can honestly say that I have never come to work feeling that I didn’t want to be here – not once in all these years! The golf business has been good to me. I’ve had so many great experiences and have had the opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people, many of whom have become lifelong friends – but now Ellen and I are looking forward to having more time for ourselves and the opportunity to do more travelling.” As for community activities and hobbies, Ken has been involved with Rotary Club since 1977. Currently he is president of the Chatham club. “We take great pride that we have helped raise in excess of two million dollars for our local regional hospital. When I was younger, I coached some baseball and was involved in minor hockey, but I would say that golf has been my work and my hobby.

In his long career Ken has had some memorable moments including playing events on the Latin American Golf Tour in 1965, along with Gowan Brae professional Eric St.George. Another time Ken recalls a match he played with Kelly Burnett, when they were assistant pros in Quebec. “Kelly was the assistant at Summerlea, just down the road from our club and we were paired in the Quebec Match Play Championship. I was dormie, when Kelly proceeded to birdie the next three holes to tie the match, then birdied the first play off hole to end the match. Just when I thought I had victory in the bag !”

McBride, a former CPGA Atlantic Professional of the Year and Merchandiser of the Year, has also given valued service to CPGA Atlantic, serving on the Atlantic Zone Executive Committee for a total of 14 years. He has chaired several committees and served a term as vice president. Currently he is chairman of Promotion and Marketing. “My most satisfying memory in our Association was when we hired the late Ev Trites, from Saint John, as our Executive Director in the late 1970’s. Our Association was not in good shape and he taught us a lot about organization and getting our affairs in order. He was an astute businessman, but at the same time, kind and considerate to all our members. He gave us the leadership that our Association needed, at the time, and put us on the right track.”